• Trip to Vancouver: A Travelogue in Pictures and (a few) Words

    I just got back from a vacation in Vancouver British Columbia. I got to see my son, his wife and their daughter. They live in Beijing so it is a rare treat when we can meet. There was some business the young family had to conduct and we were happy to offer any service possible Read more

  • A History of an Unlikly Wordsmith

    A History of an Unlikly Wordsmith

    I remember when my terminally ill father asked me if I was happy with the career I had chosen. That might have been a good time to lie and make him feel assured that I was doing something I enjoyed–as in the way he enjoyed making boats and my brother presumably enjoyed running a lumber Read more

  • Horrible Sports Team Names

    It will be nice to see the Chief Wahoo logo finally phased out since the initial removal of the offensive logo from the players’ caps and batting helmets back in 2014.   Here’s a timeline from Mother Jones of offensive sports mascots. Some of them are quite unbelievable. Before the Washington [Redacted], there were the Duluth Read more

  • Backing Out of Facebook

    Backing Out of Facebook

    Last Tuesday a friend stopped me in the lobby where we both work and told me a political meme that I had posted the day before was false–or at least Snopes.com claims it was false. That was good enough for me. In reflection the quote Vice President Pence supposedly said was crazy. Now, he has said Read more

  • More Bread for Mopping: Eating with Jimmy

    More Bread for Mopping: Eating with Jimmy

    “Two fat guys walk into a restaurant…” I don’t know what the punchline of that joke would be. It’s been so long since I lived the actual setup. The last time I had lunch with my friend Jimmy was over seventeen years ago. I miss our time together, our unhealthy attraction to food, my guilt Read more

  • The Wobblies Past (and Present, I guess)

    One night a few years ago I showed a 2-for-1 coupon for a local pan-Asian restaurant to my son. I wanted to know if he had visited the restaurant. He is a pescatarian, and places like this noodle restaurant are right up his alley. “Yeah, I’ve been there–many times,” he said. “It’s good. Our local chapter of the Wobblies Read more